I am very happy that you are interested and clicked to read this article. Introducing mesh wick is a project that I have cherished for a long time but have only been able to do it now. However, I must say in advance that mesh wick is definitely not suitable for the majority of vapers today because it does not give high sweetness or large amount of smoke but focuses on the flavor notes of the juice. If you are a vaper pursuing quintessential flavors, you will find mesh wick very interesting and worth spending time to learn. Without further ado, let's explore the mesh hobby - a hobby that can be said to be unique in this vape world.
You may have heard the word “mesh” a lot, in popular OCCs today and some RTAs like Profile, Zues X,... but that is a mesh coil - a type of coil shaped like a mesh to increase the contact area with juice. No, today we will not talk about mesh coils. The mesh I want to introduce here is mesh wick, a metal mesh that is rolled up, heated to create an insulating oxide layer on the outside (because the mesh is made of 316L stainless steel, it is still conductive) and then used to conduct juice (wick) instead of cotton thanks to the capillary phenomenon.
Mesh has been around since 2009-2010, and it can be said that this is one of the earliest wick materials to appear in the vape industry. However, unlike cotton wick or silica wick, mesh has never been popular, partly because of the complexity of this type of wick, and partly because specialized mesh burners have never been cheap. Unlike cotton, using mesh to draw juice requires users to have a solid understanding of the type of mesh, coil type, burner design, and juice they are using. Even when they have mastered it, vapers still need to experience, practice, make mistakes, and correct many times to be able to set up a reasonable mesh configuration. So what does all that effort bring in return? Mesh gives players a completely different experience than cotton, never bland or burnt. A bottle of juice when smoked on mesh will show its original flavor most accurately, fresher, clearer, and more lingering. It can be said that this is the highest rung a flavor-chaser can reach.
There are not many mesh players in Vietnam in particular and the world in general, and places that sell and build mesh are even rarer. That is why this hobby requires a high level of learning and self-discovery.
First, about the atomizer. There are 2 types of atomizers specialized for mesh play: Genesis RTA and Hybrid RDTA.
Genesis RTA: This is a mesh-specific type, its design includes a straight post in the middle as the positive pin, you will thread the mesh coil through it and fix one end of the wire at the top, then wrap the wire around the mesh coil and lock the other end of the wire at the screw below.
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Hybrid RDTA: As the name hybrid suggests, this atomizer can use both mesh and cotton. It consists of 2 positive and negative pins designed to build a vertical coil, the mesh or cotton post will be passed through the coil to the e-juice compartment below.
Next is the mesh type and wire type. I myself cannot have a specific formula for this. It all depends on the player's own experience and that also makes the biggest difference between cotton vape and mesh vape: accuracy. Usually, mesh wicks will be mesh types with a large number of cells per square inch (mesh unit): 200 mesh → 600 mesh. The wire used for mesh is basic wire, clapton 27-28-29-30ga or braided wire (rope-wire). Please do not try to stuff striped wire like alien or stagger into mesh atomizer, firstly it is very difficult to adjust, secondly there is no mesh type or mesh atomizer that can withstand the temperature and juice-eating power of these large coils.
Regarding the juice on mesh, mesh can be used to smoke all types of juice, depending on the thickness - thinness will require a different mesh configuration. However, there are special juice lines that can only be smoked on mesh to feel their true value. The most popular are tobacco juice lines, organic juices with low sweetness and mixed at a ratio of 50:50 VG:PG such as Black Note, White Note, Five Pawns,... because these juice lines are very complicated and not cheap, it would be a pity if you do not have the equipment to bring out all their flavors.
The above is just a very brief introduction to mesh. Hopefully through this article you have understood what mesh and mesh burners are. If you are interested in this sophisticated but no less romantic hobby, do not hesitate to ask questions. I will try to learn more knowledge and see you again in the next article, with mesh.
Gia Bao
